North Coast Returns with a Record Breaking 14th Year

While other festivals have been underperforming this year compared to previous years, NCMF was proud to welcome over 90k guests over the three-day span.

Walking up to SeatGeek Stadium banners lined the top of the building reading "WELCOME HOME NORTH COAST". Home is really what this is to me. Not only because I grew up just blocks from the venue but because this festival really is a festival that feels like home. The sense of community that this event holds strong every single year has never let me down. Staff, security, ticket holders, media and the artists are always respectful, kind and make you feel like you belong there - close to a feeling of euphoria.

This years stacked line up brought iconic sets that attendees will be talking about and sharing for weeks. The festival has been over for almost a week at this point and I'm still seeing so much hype over LSZEE and Isoknock spefically. I've been going to North Coast since the beginning and of all the years I've gone, 2024 was one for the books and has stood out in a multitude of ways that just can't seem to compare to the rest. I'll be intrigued to see how they manage to top this year. The team always seem to outdo themselves but continue to find ways to keep Coasties in awe year after year.

Day 1

I felt like day one was the perfect start to the Labor Day weekend. The lineup was stacked but not to the point that it was overwhelming. The multitude of EDM genres were balanced out so well that I didn't feel like there were many scheduling conflicts and the way the artists were scheduled throughout the three primary stages didn't result in constantly having to walk back and forth like I felt I ran into the previous year in 2023. That was a huge up, especially with the high temperatures Chicago had been facing and with day 1 being the hottest of the weekend.

I started off Friday by hitting the main stage where Dogma played the first set at The Stadium, setting the tone for the three day extravaganza. Festival doors had opened at 2, though his set started at 4:30 so the main floor was still pretty open. The first thing that I noticed about the main stage set up was the added LED screens on both sides of the stage as well as multiple smaller screens that were positioned and stacked directly above the primary set up. It really made the area pop and gave it a much larger appearance than the years before. It was a simple change and addition yet enough to make a large impact. I was excited to see what it looked like once it got darker and the lasers and pyro started.

Dogma's set was so heavy and had attendees going absolutely insane. The way this crowd was headbanging, you would have thought it was later in the day - not the first set of the weekend at the main stage. I personally had never listened to Dogma before but after seeing his set I can say he's confidently gained a new fan as I'm sure he has many others.  It didn't feel like much time had gone by before Dogma ended his set and grabbed a quick family photo before departing the stage.

Up next and with hardly any time lapsed between was Level Up. I was really excited for her set as I had never had the chance to see her live before and she's proven to be one of the most up and coming female artists in the EDM industry (alongside ALLEYCVT which I'll touch on later). As I expected, Level Up's set didn't disappoint. For such a tiny person she has major energy and she does an amazing job of reflecting it out to the audience in front of her. I don't think there was a single person that wasn't moving. Every person on the rail was going just as hard as they would for any of the closing acts. Her set had a nice balance between dub and riddim, which I really enjoyed because I'm not a riddim fan at all so anything that's more bassy and wubby is much more up my alley. Her set felt like it didn't last long at all, it was so good that time just flew by. I thought she deserved a set that was later on in the day, but as an up and coming artist I believe she's pretty close to getting there and wouldn't be surprised to see her closing out festivals by next year. By the time her set had ended, the crowd had doubled in size.

Most, if not all the artists that I was excited to see on Friday was taking place on the main stage - so needless to say I didn't really visit any other stages throughout the day on Friday. I did however take some time to explore the rest of  the festival grounds near the beginning to middle of Netsky's set. To cool off a bit since I was already so hot, I headed over to the Chill Dome. I really wasn't expecting anything different than the previous years, but upon entering I noticed a handful of new additions. To the left after entering the dome were two visual/art pieces installments set up and Coasties were posing for photos in front of them. The first was held up by a shaped wooden panel and swirls of color danced around the center LED screen. Next to it was something that resembled something you'd see at a Meow Wolf location. It was a large diamond shaped prism with strips of LED lights lined throughout the inside and held upright by another wooden panel.

I continued to veer left and past a small dome that was set up and away as a semi-isolated relaxation area and noticed two more new visual installments following it, one of which I had seen on the festival's Instagram page earlier that day and was looking forward to finding. It was a piece by Chris Dyer and it had a light beaming on it that gave off a psychedelic look. It changed colors and looked like it was moving, I wish the photos would do it justice but they don't.  Before that, was another visual display where both the framework and the actual artwork moved and changed color in a mesmerizing manner.

Since I had found the artwork I wanted to track down, I was cooled off enough and wanted to make sure I was able to get back to The Stadium to catch the start of Boogie T's set I started to make my way to exit the dome, only to find more new additions to this years chillest area of the weekend. Right in front of me hung a lighting fixture that changed colors and reflected a pattern and mixture of shapes onto the ground below it. Behind that was what looked like something you'd see on a playground, one of those domes built and held together with various bars so you can hang from or climb it. On the inside hung a couple of hammocks that people had already claimed and were relaxing in. Of all the years I've attended NCMF either as a normal attendee or just recently as media, I don't recall that I've ever seen so many different things in this chill dome to make it more "chill" than the temperature alone. I've only remembered seeing mass amounts of cushions spread out throughout the area, but maybe I wasn't paying that much attention and there was more than that.

As far as actual areas and installments I think this year was the most variety there's ever been. At least more for it to have been that much more noticeable this year. I wish I'd had more time to spend there, but this year was just too stacked.

I got back to the main stage right on time for the start of Boogie T's set as well as the start of golden hour. You could see the sunset just to the right of the opening of the stage. If you were anywhere outside the stadium the sunset was so much more vibrant with hues of pinks, oranges, yellows and hints of blue - but Boogie T's set was too good for me to leave to view or capture the natural show that nature had to offer outside this area of the venue. I'd seen Boogie T several times before seeing him at North Coast and I feel like this set wasn't as heavy as others have been in the past, but I was all for it. He dropped a new collab with Griz, and of course the crowd went wild! After an hour's passing, Boogie T departed the stage and crew swarmed the stage in preparation for DJ Diesel - better known as former Lakers player Shaquille O' Neal. Shaq has become a beloved member of the EDM community and has been known to put on the wildest sets.

I was not prepared for the rowdiness of his crowd. I've seen Shaq at least three times at this point and I had never seen a crowd go as wild as they did on Friday. Before Diesel appeared he'd repeatedly speak over the mic to hype up the crowd before he finally appeared and began his set. He came out with his middle finger up and asked for the crowd to do the same, though most had their phones up to record the start of what would be the craziest hour I had witnessed on day 1. As always, Diesel threw down and the crowd went absolutely buckwild. I mean there were people jumping while headbanging at the same time, the energy was insane! Throughout the set DJ Diesel would ask where his moshpit was and like the last time I saw him, they failed him - give the man his mosh pit! There were a couple of times that Diesel "threatened" to come out into the crowd since he wasn't getting his mosh pits, but unfortunately he never left the stage. The same thing happened the last time I saw him, though the very first time I saw him at North Coast about four years ago he did come out even after several mosh pits. I'm convinced that if you give the man his mosh pits, he'll come out and join them. No mosh pits, no Shaquille in the crowd. Fair enough. Diesel took the cake for the rowdiest crowd of the weekend, by far.

Up next was Sullivan King which was a perfect follow up to the energy the crowd was already projecting as he puts on sets that are just as insane as Diesel and has just as rowdy (but respectful) of a fan base, especially live. Sully's set was dark (a lot of reds and blacks) as far as visuals go and his set was very much what you'd expect. Wubby, bassy, metal like vibes, and of course there were several moments where he played his guitar standing atop the main platform. I had the pleasure of seeing his set later that night at the afterparty as well and I have to say his set during the festival was way better than it was at The Mansion, but that's just my opinion.

Sullivan's hour long set felt so much shorter to me, another set that just flew by with just how good it was. Honestly most of the day felt that way. But nonetheless there was one more artist and the final act to close out the first night of the weekend - Subtronics. Before I say more, I did mention earlier that I do not like riddim. However seeing Subtronics live is an absolute exception and he is a riddim artist. I've only seen him a handful of times before and each time that I have I've felt that his set has had an equally distributed mix of dubstep and riddim. Subtronics is known for his super smooth transitions and I believe that his ability to transition so well aids with the riddim sounds not being so choppy during his live performances (that's why I dislike the genre so much and why I enjoy his sets). His set during North Coast this year I felt slightly different about. I do feel like it was less balanced and more on the riddim side, though in the same aspect - riddim is becoming more popular amongst artists in the genre that even Excision's sets lately have swayed toward this direction. Needless to say, I didn't stay throughout Jesse's entire set.

As day 1 came to a close I walked back to my childhood home, listening to the end of Subtronic's set and the roar of the crowd that echoed throughout the neighborhood. Reminiscing on all the moments that I was able to witness and capture, I looked forward to doing it again for day 2. The anticipation was high for myself personally, as I'm sure it was for many others as well.

Day 2

A happy Saturday it was, day 2 of 3 was finally here and there was so much to look forward to. Festival doors opened again at 2 but I arrived around 5:30 and hung out in the main stage area while waiting for ALLEYCVT to come on. I planted myself on the bleachers while Sherm performed the second set of the day at The Stadium and while waiting I made a friend that I consistently ran into throughout the remainder of the weekend. A genuinely good person with good vibes that fit just perfectly into what PLUR and the general community stand for. We talked for some time about the various sets from the day before and who we were most looking forward to that day and the communities growth and what it is today and hope to see for the future. I was so invested in the conversation that I ended up having to interrupt our conversation and literally run into the pit because ALLEYCVT had just started her set.

Her crowd was energetic which was a perfect match to her energy. Throughout her set she expressed how thankful she was for being at North Coast and for the support of her fans. She shared that it was only the second time she's played the main stage at an event and that she's proud of how far she's come so far. I thought this was so humble of her. As I mentioned near the start of this article, ALLEYCVT has been an up and coming female artist and her growth and popularity have progressed fairly quickly. Another hour long set zoomed on by. I'm not even kidding it felt like 15 minutes had gone by because it was so good and the set was just fun overall.

Saturday was the day that I was more back and forth from stage to stage than I obviously was on Friday, which I didn't mind since it was a cooler (but still super hot) day than the day before. So after ALLEYCVT's set ended I walked over to The Vega stage for the first time so I could catch Deathpact. The Vega's set up was more visually appealing this year than it was the following. Last year it had a much more simple look to it with 3 primary structures set straight without any curvature. This year had two added parts and were placed in a concave position to where the stage felt like it surrounded the crowd which resulted in a more dramatic and personal effect and feel.

Deathpact came on and I loved the direction that the set was headed instantly. The crowd had a similar vibe to Sullivan King's the night before. I wished it was just a little bit darker out. Their set time was just before it started to get dark enough to really see the lasers (there were a couple faint ones though). Making up for the lack of night time - pyro, visuals and the overall performance from Deathpact was honestly too good for anything else to have mattered.

After Deathpact ended it was time to go back to The Stadium to catch my first b2b for the weekend - Dabin and Said the Sky, together known as Dab the Sky. I knew this set was going to be beautiful and it was. It was heavily melodic with a splash of dubstep and of course added instrumentals from Dabin playing his guitar. I expected absolutely nothing less and I was happy about it. Though I was wondering - and hopeful - they'd bring out Illenium (they didn't and that's ok). Overall, it was exactly the set I wanted to witness and it was a nice switch up from the heavier sets that I had caught so far. This is what I expected for pretty much the remainder of the day - Saturday was surely on the lighter side as far as sound went.

After Dab the Sky there were two back to back scheduling conflicts out of the entire weekend: LZSEE (Clozee b2b DSDREAM) at The Vega stage and Seven Lions at The Stadium. To top it off Illenium was set to start before the end of Clozee and LSDREAM. Seven Lions always puts on a beautiful set, however North Coast was hosting the third LZSEE set which wasn't something I wanted to miss. There were the slightest gap to where I was able to catch the first 25 minutes of Seven Lions (25 minutes out of an hour, I'll take it), then was able to get over to catch the majority of LSZEE before the start of Illenium's set. All was worth it, but LSZEE, O-M-G. I have to say it was hands down the best set of the weekend in all aspects that you could possibly measure on; vibes, visuals, lighting, effects (fireworks, pyro, lasers, smoke, ect), transitions and track choice. You name it - I vote it #1 NCMF set for 2024. I wish I could go back and witness it again and I hope one day I can. I was so enticed by the set that I left it too late and I didn't make it in time for Illenium's opening.

His sets always amaze me, I can't tell you a time that I've ever been disappointed and North Coast marked my 11th Illenium set. I can get lost at his shows just watching his visuals. Miller's production team always does a great job in general. Illenium's composure of his beautiful work of art that pour out over the speakers spreading love and positivity amongst his fan base always hold a sense of belonging and the overall experience is always special. Having Illenium close out North Coast was the best way to end the second day.

Day 3

The last day was here, and I wasn't ready for it to be over. Normally by the 3rd day of a festival I'm exhausted and sort of ready for the last day to be done and over with regardless how good of a time I've been having, at least with me being older now. This time was different for some reason, I wasn't tired and my body wanted to keep going. I probably could have lasted another day at the least (petition for next year to be 4 days???).

I got to the festival earlier than I had the previous days and I realized that I hadn't popped into Club Coast at all. After walking down, a long colorful hallway and reaching the room at the very end I found Abae who had just started her set. The club provides an overlook of the main stage floor as you step out onto the balcony outdoors. On the opposite side of the DJ booth there was a small bar and in the corner of that section there was an interesting installation that looked like you were coming out of an alternate dimension that attendees were taking photos in. The discrete section of the festival was decorated with various neon lights and vibrant lit up large flowers hung from the tops of the walls and ceilings.

Sunday was probably the most relaxed day I had of the three as I spent my whole day at The Vega with the exception of catching Levity's set at The Shipyard. I hadn't noticed any difference with that stage compared to the year before. It was laid out and looked exactly the same, though I did find later that night that there was something not as obvious which was wildly revealed during the closing set of Isoknock - wait for it, it's crazy.

Levity came on at approximately 5:30, immediately after Jon Casey and they had the biggest crowd that I had seen at The Shipyard thus far. Fans poured out onto the walkways and side areas and spread as far back as the porta potties were. This was personally my second time seeing Levity live and they were just as good as the first. I expected a different vibe from their set this time around given that the trio is Chicago based and this was their second time playing North Coast, and I wasn't disappointed. The fans ate up their energy and the guys had the crowd jumping up and down for at least half their set. One of my friends had met up with me when he had gotten there, and he hadn't heard of or seen the group before. He loved their set so much that he broke his initial plan of going to see Hamdi that he stayed for Levity's entire set. Levity was more up his alley than Hamdi was so I can't say I was that surprised. He enjoyed their set so much that he was still talking about it 15 minutes into San Holo's set (and that was hours after the fact).

About a half hour after Levity started, I headed to The Vega stage for Crankdat, the 1st set of the day that I was the most excited for. I really wasn't sure what to expect between his recent original releases and random mashups/remixes that he's been known to put a spin on in the past. I have to say I was pretty surprised that the majority of his set were his originals, not that that's a bad thing - I was looking forward to a little bit of goofiness against the track selection and his transitions. Still a great set nonetheless and definately good enough to keep me excited to catch him again in the future.

I stayed for Crankdat's entire set partially because I was really vibing out and because San Holo was up right after him. I had a feeling that fighting the crowd for this one was going to be a little trickier since anyone that was coming from The Stadium would be heading in the same direction toward either The Vega or The Shipyard for Chase & Status. Plus, it was peak attendee time since we were approaching the top of the hour for the start of the major supporting and headlining acts. I was right and I was able to get into the pit at the start of San Holo's set, even allowing ample time to get to the entrance. u

His set pulled me in instantly, to the point that I forgot I was there for media and had to remind myself I needed to start taking photos. I've mentioned several beautiful sets throughout the weekend already, but San's topped all - even Illenium's (sorry Nick). He started out with guitar in hand and playing for a short time before really letting loose and hypnotizing the crowd. There were many moments that he would engage with different fans from the crowd, from making hand or arm gestures to pointing and singing along with his fans. It was so wholesome, and I loved watching his interactions, it didn't matter how many yards he was away from whoever he was sharing the moment with.

I had always wanted to see him live and though I've had opportunities where I could have, I've always ended up letting too much time get past me and then the event ends up sold out. I'm sure all his performances have been just as good, if not better but I was absolutely blown away by his North Coast performance. Another crowd of good vibes and people living their best lives in that very moment, to a perfectly crafted hour and 15-minute set with colorful visuals, lasers, lighting and pyro timed at the most perfect moments. It makes me think twice before letting time get past me again and missing out on a chance to see San Holo again.

My day was almost over since I planned on staying for Slander before heading out since I had a flight to catch at 5am in the morning. Big oops there - I should have stayed for Isoknock and Two Friends. After the festival was over, like actually over and not me leaving over - I had instant regret and fomo from what I saw that I missed over social media. Those sets looked insane and the NCMF crew did right by choosing who they did to close out the year 2024. Before I get into all that we need to talk about Slander.

It's been so long since I've seen Slander, to the point that I'm pretty positive the last time was at North Coast so that would have been back in 2022 - a whole two years. Every time I listen to them, I forget how good they are, and I always ask myself why I don't listen to them more. That holds true for seeing them live. Every single time I'm blown away as if I had never seen them before and they always leave me in awe. Second beautiful set of the day, although with a heavier vibe than San Holo of course. You can say Slander is a little bit more "rowdy" with a nice balance of melodic EDM. I shot about half of Slander's set before I sat down and enjoyed what was left of my weekend with a friend before departing the venue.

I swear, as soon as I was in front of the stadium and walking down the main street that's when the regret kicked in. Walking home, it seemed like the crowd was the loudest it had been all weekend (remember, I'm outside the venue at this point). How could it possibly sound louder, what was happening? For starters, Two Friends who were closing out the mainstage brought a drumline with them. Major Odesza vibes, love it and is seriously sad I missed out on that. Then at The Shipyard stage, Isoknock was performing in the air suspended from a crane on one of the freight train looking structures that had the same aesthetic from the stage just below them. That would have been so crazy to see. The new things that artists have and are coming up with anymore is beyond me.

The way that music and events have changed over time look completely different than it did just a year ago and will continue to hold true as time goes on. North Coast Music Festival has continued to adjust and evolve with the ever-changing industry, proving year after year that they can do it even better than the last. Striving to support a plethora of Chicago locals amongst the hottest and fastest growing acts of the year, the festival receives positive feedback and reviews after every Labor Day weekend, leaving all attendees - regardless of if you're there as a ticket holder, security, media, are excited and hopeful to be back the next year. I know I am, and I hope to be able to capture those wonderful moments that live within the NCMF family.

The festival says they're gearing up for an even bigger festival for their 15th anniversary in the year 2025. Fans can sign up for the presale waitlist here.